[NYDailyNews] Rockets Offer Brooks And Battier For Rubio

Durv,

The pieces are irrelevant, I was speaking to the main players....

I agree.

DD

 

agreed, if we get rubio i bet we will try to ship him for a good pg like nash or paul, because he will be cheap compared to their respective contracts and those teams get to unload money.

 

Alright, but there's no point speaking to the main players if you can't come up with other pieces that will make it a worthwhile trade for both sides.

 

I agree with you. If this offer is true I'm hoping that this is why he's making it. Because I can't understand why he would trade a PG that has made big strides in his 2nd yr, and we all know what Battier brings; for a unproven rookie who may be an allstar in a couple of years.<p>Knowing what this team did last year without their 2 stars will be stupid to break up the core. We will be taking a step back with this move, unless he is making a 2nd move after this one.

 

C'mon...only a few people know how valuable Battier is? Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson rode Battier's jock for 7 playoff games against LA. By now, 50% of the world's population should know how valuable a hand in Kobe's face is.

But seriously, (even though you're joking about it) I've always regarded $Ball as a one-way street. When 29 other teams use a vastly different evaluation process, then you'll struggle to off-load $Ball players.

 

Yep, trade Yao, dont sign Ron, trade Battier, Tracy, Barry, etc. Pretty much anyone over the age of 27 (or injury prone).

 

Anyone can see Morey is trying to get a franchise caliber player because of Yao's inability to stay healthy AND because he may bolt in 2010. He's trying to retool on the fly and I don't blame him.

 

Going after low risk, high reward players isn't exactly a style. That's like saying going after good players is a style. I think what you're getting at is that Morey usually prefers low risk, low reward to high risk, high reward.

Personally, as relatively low as I rate Battier, I don't really see the point in a trade like this. We could get a whole lot more for him if we traded him to a contender looking for that final piece of the puzzle, as they'd probly be more willing to overpay for him.

I'd rather try and send Battier to Boston in a package for Rondo or Ray Allen. I could see them coveting Battier, especially if they could add some depth in the process. Or maybe send him in a package to Orlando in a sign and trade for Hedo and Gortat.

 

What does everyone think Rubio will do here? How good will he be? And is it really worth giving up more than brooks and bat for him?

If hes here, I think yao scores alot more because rubio can get him the ball. But thats about it.

 

Why does Morey INSIST on trying to sell high on Battier to these bottom dwellers? Battier is the prototypical example of a "win now" type player. And without debating semantics, I just fail to realize what need these up-and-comers have for a workhorse. Battier is much more valuable to a contender than he is to a rebuilding team. If moving Battier is the plan I suggest he starts calling a team like Portland.

As for the deal itself, I have never liked Rubio but my trust in Morey transcends my own opinion. If he's THAT high on Rubio then I have no choice but to support the move. A deal like this would almost certainly mean the plan is to flip McGrady for a few rotation-ready pieces. A good example of a "Step #2 Plan" would be with Golden State in a Captain Jacko and/or Maggette + whatever type deal. Using that type of logic, replacing Battier and Brooks certainly is feasible.

 

Isn't that the whole point? You don't want to be off-loading $Ball players, you want to be acquiring them. Because they have a below fair-value contract(according to $Ball evaluation)- a result of a different evaluation process by the rest of the league. If everyone used the same evaluation process, contracts would all be at fair-value, eliminating any edge or advantage of $Ball.

 

The only way I could see us trading away Battier and Brooks for Rubio would be if we were getting a stud SG / SF for TMAC.....something along the lines of a Rip or / and Prince ? Then you could have Rubio, Rip, Artest / Prince, Scola, Yao...

 

The pieces are wholly relevant if your point is the Rockets missed out on a deal.

Courtney Lee and expirings is the bar. Considering Rafer was also in the deal, and was traded directly for Kyle Lowry just a few months ago, Lowry would not be enough.

Unless you are either:
a.) Willing to part with Aaron Brooks and/or multiple future first round picks
b.) Trying to make the case that McGrady has more value than just an expiring contract (which is not really the case for a team clearly looking to rebuild like the Nets)

Then the Rockets could not directly put together a better package for Vince Carter than the Magic did. Continuing to bring it up is silly.

 

In your opinion I guess, but since we don't KNOW what makes it worthwhile for both or what their motivations might or might not be, all that is irrelevent.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a connection inside New Jersey's front office.....

Look, none of us know their motivations, whether it was money, Courtney Lee, expiring contracts...what...the Rockets could have put a package together that could compete....

But since all of this is your opinion and my opinion..what is the point?

DD

 

Rubio is not worth it!!

 

LOLOL and they say Morey is a smart guy. Ha I guess they were wrong. How dumb would it be to trade 2 main pieces for a prospect who is nothing but hype. I'm glad the Timberwolves said no. A trade like this shows that the Rockets are not about winning it all.

This shows that the Rockets are all about the $$$ instead of the Championship banner and the Rings. Dumb Dumb Dumb move by Morey to try and make a move like this. Breaking his neck to get a 18 or 19 year old kid who is frail, can't shoot, and basically is saying that they are giving up on the season.

Mind me if this went down who would be our defensive stopper?? Ron is a free agent, Shane is gone, and James White is probably not ready. Stupid proposal by Morey.

 

I have not seen Rubio enough to make any judgement on him, so I'll trust Morey and our scouts that he's worth it if this indeed was offered.

You also have to believe that there is at least one other major move lined up, and probably two if something like this were to go through. We wouldn't trade Battier and not acquire another defensive stopper. I'm thinking that move would be for Prince and Rip. If that were to happen, we'd just have to hope that we somehow got a backup center in the process or had another piece we could deal.

 

That is alot to give up!


"Buck-a-roo for two!"

 

No, what I am getting at is Morey usually prefers low risk, high reward players, like I previously stated.

Scola was a low risk, high reward player- if he didn't pan out, we lost Vspan and took on Butler, boo hoo. If he worked out, we had our starting PF for the next 5 years.

Signing Francis was a low risk, high reward move- we signed him to a small contract so that if it didn't work out we can easily offload him, like we did. If he worked out, we had an former allstar who was still relatively young.

Trading for Lowry was a very sneaky low risk, high reward move- since Tmac being out for the year effectively ended our championship hopes, what was the risk of trading away a 32 year old Rafer? We go from not winning the championship with Rafer, to not winning the championship without Rafer? The risk was low. However, the reward was possibly increaing Aaron Brooks' value exponentially by making him the starter. It was since panned out brilliantly for Morey. If we could possibly pawn him off for a near allstar now, that would've been HIGH reward.

Morey has a penchant for picking up high 2nd round picks. This is low risk because they do not have the guaranteed contracts of 1st rounders. However, I think Morey believes his $Ball metrics can find gems that others undervalue, ie Landry, Brooks, making the reward high.

On the other hand, Battier and Brooks for Rubio breaks this trend completely- if it pans out, we get an allstar in 3-4 years? Meanwhile we take a step back during Yao's prime. And this is if it pans out. If it doesn't we lose 2/5 of the core of a 50+ win, close to contending team. We essentially break this team up.

This move does not go along with how Morey usually operates, which is why I believe he has an Ace up his sleeve. I mean, he is the Magician after all...

 

I'm w/you. To me it is obvious, this kid has got 'star' written all over him and others recognize that as well.
It's the ones that do not realize what they are looking at and how rare his talent is that puzzle me. Everyone on this board watches BB, but some must not know what they are witnessing.
Mercy